Popcorn Maturity

My 8 yr old son has been sick this week with the flu. Today he missed his class field trip. So I told him I would take him to the movie to get him out of the house. He hasn’t run fever since Sunday & it’s Thursday. Just not 100% yet. Being sick is no fun, but I am enjoying this time with my sweet boy. 

 So midway through the movie, I look over at Cade eating his popcorn & it dawned on me. He is eating his popcorn like a normal person. Yes, I said a normal person. When he was younger , he would pick the popcorn apart trying to get the kernel out. Let’s point out that there is not much to popcorn in the first place. After he was finished picking it apart to get the kernel out, there was not much to eat. Still he  insisted on having popcorn just like the rest of us.   Yes, this was quite strange to me & more embarrassing when we were with other people besides our immediate family. What made it worse at first is he would just throw what he did not eat of the popcorn on the floor. We quickly came up with a way to throw the unwanted parts in a bag to throw away. I had to explain to him that he was not eating sunflower seeds at a ball park. 😂 Other people thought it was hilarious. Me,  not so much! I kept praying , God please let him grow out of this before he takes a girl out on a date to a movie one day. 

I ‘m not sure when it happened that he finally started eating the whole piece of popcorn , but it has been a gradual process. I mean we go to see movies a lot. That’s what you do when you live in a small college town. We have year around sports , bowling & movies. That’s pretty much it. So I know he has been eating it normal for about a year, but I really JUST noticed it today with gratefulness. Ha! 

One of my favorite things about the way Jesus taught & teaches us today through his word is through his parables/stories. He knows us so well & that little examples of stories here in our life help us understand & relate to our spiritual life. God reminded me in the theater that just like Cade grew gradually from picking his popcorn apart to eating it normal, that we grow & mature gradually just like that spiritually. It may take a while to get to mature places in our walk with him but at some point the more we read his word , pray, slowly surrender those different areas of our lives to him, we do in fact grow, mature & change. We eventually stop picking our popcorn apart , I mean stop picking ourselves , our bodies & our lives apart because we know who we are in Christ. We trust what God says when we read that we are fearfully & wonderfully made. We believe what God says is true about us like we were bought with a price & we belong, that we are complete in him, We are free forever from condemnation , We are redeemed & forgiven. We are able to get to know Christ, his heart, his character & eventually let him transform us into his image. We at some point stop the habits we had as young Christians that do not line up with who Jesus is & about  because we read in his word about who we are, we know & trust Christ more everyday we are in relationship with him. It may seem like a stretch , but this is exactly where The Holy Spirit led my mind.

 Hebrews 5:14 But solid food is for the mature, who by constant use have trained themselves to distinguish good from evil.

Cade consistently ate popcorn each time we went to the movie, and again we go to alot of movies, but It was a long gradual change to get to the place of changing the way he ate it.  It took yrs, but he grew because he was around people who ate it right.  I guess he began to choose to trust that there was no fear of the kernel. Lol! I don’t know, but I do know if we are constantly seeking the Lord, we change. 

What are you still feasting on? The word or The world? God didn’t save us to stay the same. There’s a big amazing life in Christ waiting on us that offers freedom to us in knowing who we are which leads us to living  a more joy filled life in him everyday.

Let’s all be encouraged today that by reading & trusting God’s truth & surrendering to Christ , we are maturing & changing.  Also, Praise God for today’s encouragement for Cade’s future dating season. 😉